City of Cape Town Council Meeting disrupted


Keelan Joshua
26 February 2014

On Wednesday the City’s Full Council meeting was disrupted after a disagreement over the correct procedure for submitting the City’s draft budget. In a query after Mayor of Cape Town Patricia De Lille’s speech, ANC councillor Xolani Sotashe questioned the process of handing over the draft budget after the Mayor’s speech.

He continued by saying that according to legislature, budgets are supposed to be submitted 72 hours before council meetings and that failure to adhere to this means that the council would not have the necessary information to decide if the budget should go for public consideration.

The ANC and DA were in disagreement over the interpretation of the legislation causing the meeting to adjourn for an hour during which time ANC councilors chanted and threw the proposed budgets on the floor. Speaker of the council, Derrick Smith, decided in favour of the DA after legal consultation.
 
After the meeting restarted the DA proceeded to pick up the discarded budget proposals with councilor GG Twigg insisting that they would not be intimidated by the ANC.

The ANC did not accept the ruling and stated that they would take the matter further. Councilor Sotashe reiterated saying, “the rules are very clear that you must provide councilors with sufficient information before they apply their minds. Here the speaker wants us to take a decision when we don’t have the documents.”

Mayor De Lille replied saying that whatever decisions the ANC are unhappy with, they should take the correct channels in addressing the matter and not disrupt council meetings. Speaker Derrick Smith closed discussion of the draft budget proposal thereafter and the meeting continued.

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